A recommendatory letter purported to have been written by Bihar Governor Buta Singh to Railway Minister Lalu Prasad seeking favour for 2 senior railway officers has sparked off a controversy with the National Democratic Alliance terming it as 'immoral and denigration of the post and prestige of the office of the Governor.'

In the purported letter to the railway minister dated July 5, 2005, the governor had requested for posting Vijay P Meshram, chief materials manager (south eastern railway), who was on study leave upto July 15, 2005, as the controllor of stores of the central railway.

Singh had also recommended posting Girish Bhatnagar, another officer of the Indian Railway Service as AGM, central railway (Mumbai).

The governor, in his letter, had said Meshram had worked for 20 years in south eastern railway at Kolkata, Kharagpur, Tatanagar, Bhubaneshwar, Vishakhapatnam, Raipur, Nagpur and 3 years in Dew in Patiala in Punjab.

State Bharatiya Janata Party president Sushil Kumar Modi charged Buta Singh with being 'hand-in-glove' with Lalu Prasad and running the state administration 'at the latter's behest.'